#supportive Alfor

[snackleggg]

I feel like a big part of Allura's character being done dirty and feeling inconsistent comes from the writers just not really being able to write female characters very well.

What do I mean?

Well, Voltron's cast has always been primarily male (which makes sense since the og show was from the 80s) but vld gives us quite a few "strong female characters". The problem comes when you notice most of those characters are minor like Krolia or Acxa or Veronica. This means the characters can be depicted as strong and badass with any more indepth characters moments being conveniently off screen (like Krolia & Keith's time on the space whale, Veronica's time worrying over Lance's disappearance & trying to protect earth, Acxa's redemption)

But there are still female characters within the main cast and the contrast between how they are written really gives an insight to the struggle the vld writers had. The contrast between how Pidge and Allura are written is alarming.

Pidge, even after her reveal, is still written in an androgynous masc-leaning way. The characters don't even refer to her with any pronouns for seasons after her "reveal", its only in the last few seasons that the writers seemingly remember Pidge is supposed to use she/her pronouns. This is probably a byproduct of the fact that the archetype Pidge fills (the smart guy) is commonly a masc one.

Meanwhile, Allura's characterisation is butchered because as the designated "main female character" the writers just threw every single character trope at her, probably trying to make her feel "deep" and multifaceted but just made her feel inconsistent, busy, and butchered instead.

She's "the leader" initially when the paladins are first starting out but Shiro fills that role quickly so she is put in a more "support" role. She seems to be some type of "chosen one" considering her ability to connect w/ the balmera, negate haggars magic, and her natural talent w/ alchemy (the explanation seems to be that it's because of her lineage, as Alfor was the best alchemist of his time, but we never seem/know enough about Alfor or his own abilities to get a tangible grasp of what Allura's capabilities are. It's just whatever is convenient to the plot like bringing Lance back to life). She falls into the "damsel in distress" trope at the end of season 1. She's made the center of a very disingenuous and forced feeling love triangle. They try to give her a racism arc??? But fail spectacularly bc they never have like a proper heartfelt conversation about her bias, where it comes from, her recognising the damaging affects it has (the conversation she has with Keith abt it at the end of season 2 feels very "You're one of the good ones" coded which is very icky) and then the writers seemingly forget it ever happened (also it lasts like 3 episodes and consists mainly of her just glaring vaguely in Keith's direction instead of any actual confrontation/conflict between them)

Her character is all over the place. One second she is being put in "traditional" female character tropes (which she as a princess trained in combat, diplomacy, and running an entire society of people, should not be put in/have trouble with) like the damsel in distress and the love triangle. The next, she is depicted as unstoppable and a fix-all maggufin like with her alchemy & connection to quintessence. Then they also try to have her work through personal issues/flaws (which I think is what her racism arc was supposed to be???) But they never go into detail & explore said personal issues (which btw were never really alluded to before hand, kind of came out of nowhere)

TLDR: Allura's character was butchered because the writers thought mashing together a bunch of random character tropes without any deeper thought/development = interesting characterisation when really it just made her inconsistent and confusing.

[pidges-lost-robot]

Look I will only accept Allura being paladin of two of the lions, the Black Lion and the Red Lion

The Black Lion because I think it'd be interesting for her to go from a person just stepping into leading the team from afar to actively being their leader at a far closer proximity. For her to have an arc about sort of being a little worried about stepping into that leader role and proving something to herself about her abilities as one and I believe Keith being a right hand to Allura and them both supporting and leading together would be a good and interesting dynamic for them both and could parallel and healthier version of what went on with Alfor and Zarkon

And the Red Lion cause of my insane need for the colour scheme to work cause pink is just light red, and I think that on some level could work as visual foreshadowing

And that's IT!!

[princessallura052]

So I've been struggling to find inspiration and giving myself a break allowed me to figure out why. Ever since the loss of my admittedly fake friends, it's been hard to talk about my main fandom Voltron. Today I'm going to let out all the thoughts I've been wanting to ramble about and have no one to ramble about to anymore because it's hurting my inspiration.

I don't have a particular order to this so I'll just begin. My favourite character and Paladin is Keith Kogane. His journey is very much something I can relate to. Someone the world decided to give up on but there was one person who never gave up on him and asked for nothing in return. Like Keith had Shiro I had my Mom.

Unlike most others, I actually prefer Keith as the Black Paladin. I don't hate him as the Red Paladin and thought Red's fierce protectiveness over him was both adorable and hilarious, however I also enjoy character growth being a writer myself. I feel as the Red Paladin, he remained quite the lone wolf and hotheaded. The Red Lion is someone who would have encouraged that impulsiveness because as we saw King Alfor was the same way.

Being in the Black Lion forced him to grow and mess up then learn from his mistakes. He's more similar to Shiro than to Lance which is interesting because he's younger than Shiro and we don't know what Shiro would have been like at Keith's age. Perhaps Shiro adopted him because he saw a bit of himself in Keith and wants to support that. I won't go into too much detail on why Keith makes a great Black Paladin because I have a whole post on that already.

Another thing I love is the brotherly relationship with Keith and Shiro. The society nowadays has become a little bit corrupt because we cannot have two men say I love you even if they add you're my brother without it being made into something sexual. Before the gays come after me (not that I care but you guys take up so much space in the dang comments) I would feel the same if Shiro was a girl and Keith said you're my sister I love you. I would not ship them together but that said the platonic relationship between them is beautiful. The I will die for you or I will die protecting you that is mutual between them. The way Keith was able to pilot Black to save Shiro despite not being her Paladin was so hot! He looked so cool...oh gosh I'm fangirling now hehe. Ok moving on from how hot Keith is. He is hot though right? Anyhoo!

I ship Keith with Allura. Ironically I shipped them together before I knew about the 80s Voltron and although it took me awhile to accept how much I love these two together due to bad fans. Our fandom is toxic guys. It's sad but true. But I feel this show is too good not to ramble about.

Season 7 is my favourite Voltron season. I don't like that they made Shiro gay but that's also because I feel in a reboot you shouldn't change a character's original sexuality. It's like me deciding to do a rewrite of the Harry Potter books and have it be a TV show on Netflix and I decided to make Hermione a lesbian. It's so disrespectful because it's like it's a fanfiction that's actually official which does not feel fair. Also I may not like the whole LGBTQ+ agenda but even if I did, it's cheap representation. I wouldn't want a woman of colour in media if it was just for brownie points and it's not going to make any difference if the character was a white woman.

But back to positivity!! I like season 7 because it feels like a war story. People die. The stakes are higher and heck the Paladins almost die at the end. But my two biggest reasons are Keith and Kallura. It was wonderful to see them address that Keith basically did what he was terrified of his team doing to him. He left them and that being thrown in his face dang that was powerful for his development. He was a complete different person after that. Being there for Hunk, supporting his team wherever they needed him to be.

The second reason is this season to me showed that Keith loved Allura and how much this was sadly a missed opportunity. When the Paladins are captured by Sendak and Keith regains consciousness for like a couple of seconds, the first person he checks on is Allura. She is the first person his eyes travel to and then he falls back unconscious. Dang it was not only a missed opportunity for Kallura but it also showed Keith was more physically resilient than the others even Allura. Are half-Galrans stronger than Alteans? That certainly makes Lotor pretty powerful then.

So I let out a lot of my thoughts in here but there will be more specific posts later. Character analyses and all, pairing stuff, villain stuff etc. this feels good.

[findmeinthefallair]

Me, dishing out short metas about the Lions in the year of our lord 2023? More likely than you think.

I revisited some scenes and fondly see some common threads as to why Red selected Alfor, Keith and Lance. The official handbook (that lines up with the era of the show before the Head of Story, Tim Hedrick, was too boxed in and disallowed from following the story bible he put together) says determination and instinct on top of skill are key traits to pilot this most temperamental, most unpredictable and most unstable out of all five Lions. She's the speed demon of the team.

Alfor followed his instincts about researching quintessence to defy Zarkon twice. We know that Keith is fine with defying anyone, even Shiro at the end of the day if he has to. In my opinion, Lance's learning point was not caring what others thought of him and stop trying to do the "cool" thing. Defying that insecurity about self and thus being able to defy others in situations: wherein he would previously not be able to make that difficult decision. In early S3 he manages to be unflustered and stable to redirect Keith towards calm leadership.

So it's about making tough calls and sticking with the consequences, something shared with being in the position of Black Paladin. In fact, Red and her pilot has had to step in to lead and redirect the leader (Black) a few times. A failsafe if you will, to step in and take the reigns if needed.

She is second-in-command but she's also the wild card Lion. While by default she is unpredictable, she is the untameable one - more so than Black, I'd say - which is in a way what's most consistent in her, and is the most predictable thing about her. She'd expect any of her pilots to also have principles strong enough to defy upper command if such an act may actually be needed for the benefit of the team.

Which is interesting because..these qualities makes her not so different from her supposed polar opposite, Yellow, who is responsible for making the team morale as unshakeable as possible - "[the Yellow Paladin's] heart must be mighty" - plus civilian search-and-rescue. A consistency in principles and morals even if it is a high price to stick to them.

(While for Blue and Green, they're opposites in the sense that Blue requires spontaneity, while Green requires meticulous observation. Where they are similar is they are crucial in gathering intel. Blue's sonar ability, Green's cloaking ability)

You may need Red for offense but also defense for the team i.e. she pushes another Lion to safety twice in the show: Keith supporting Shiro in the S1 finale, Lance sparing Allura damage in S6 (which was good, since she has her Altean healing ability for herself and also others).

I really really would've wanted to see Alfor using the Rail Gun though. I wanted to see what would piss him off enough or make him scared enough to activate it. In all his screentime he never truly lost his composure (Allura is mostly like that too, she clearly gets it from him) but that one weapon requires a huge burst of unforced passionate emotion to activate: much like how a war cry works. Fitting for the Fire element she is matched to and the guardian spirit of.

Alfor is an alchemist and more cerebral which is so different from his two successors are like. His fire burned differently but he was definitely passionate.

[discordiansamba]

Still working on the Voltron/Pacific Rim Crossover, but i decided I’m keeping the different alien species

so the Galra lost their planet (and king and queen) to the kaiju, Altea barely kept their planet and they’re working to help other planets.

they find earth and Altea geeks out because Earth has the same plan as they did with the jaegars (though Altea only has Voltron and finding five people compatible with each other and the lions is more difficult than they expected), and are quick to help fix the brain frying problem.

there are differences in how each species can drift, but solo piloting is a bad idea for anyone regardless of species

alteans can drift with anyone with no consequences, but there are exceptions (Coran can’t, much to his frustration, he managed exactly once with Alfor but can’t repeat the process) and Altea isn’t going to risk their princess, no matter how much she wants to fight.

humans need to be drift compatable, but can recover from losing a partner. they are a bit more prone to chasing rabits compared to the other species

galra are only drift compatible with one partner, and losing that partner leaves them unable to drift with anyone else. those that lose their partner become part of the blades, a unit of Galra who are on earth to help monitor the earth’s rift and fly small ships to support the jaegars in combat. Krolia loses her husband and keith’s father and is the only galra who is stubbornly retesting to see if she can become drift compatible with her son if something happens to Shiro. (there are also concerns about Keith, which makes his ability to connect with others not Shiro a surprise)

the exception to both Galran and Altean is Lotor, but unfortunately, it’s not a good thing. he’s had multiple partners but they all break it off if they don’t get killed. his last partner before story was Romelle (here a cousin to Allura), who when kind describes him as all take and no give in the drift. when ticked off she’ll call him a royal brat, which everyone finds a bit rich given her new partner is her younger brother who is a brat to everyone that isn’t her. (her partner before Lotor was her older brother, but he went mia after a bad battle ripped their jaegaer in two)

Lotor takes his leave in roughly end of the begning start of the middle of the story, giving up on earth and doing something with the druids he says will stop the kaiju for good. He takes his jaegar and a few other hybrid Galra with him. unsurprisingly this ticks off everyone including the blades who remain on earth.

it later turns out he and the druids were making robeasts, and Romelle and her little brother both get angry when they realize Lotor used their mia older brother to make one, while lotor fails to read the room and explains the use of kaiju sized warriors is better than jaegars and voltron, and seriously damages the galra’s relationship with other races

still working on exactly what happens when, but our paladins will be sealing the rift on earth and taking voltron to help other planets under attack by Kaiju (and Lotor’s Robeasts who aren’t helping matters) and title is still tbd

[depressocafe]

What is the real reason why Zarkon thought Lotor was weak? And why did Zarkon become power hungry after the quintessence incident?

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In this week's edition of VLD Theories I hyper fixate and overanalyze the show once again but this time I think I have something really interesting, considering the fact that we're not just talking about the inner workings of the Voltron universe but we're also discussing everyone's favorite father son duo.

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Something that's always irked me is the cliché way Zarkon was written (and don't worry we'll get into Lotor and his relationship with Zarkon as well as childhood trauma in a moment but to get to that we have to talk about the Emperor himself). Zarkon is written as everyone's typical, immoral, emotionless, power hungry bastard and while that is essentially what a 'bad person' is it doesn't make for good writing nor does it function well with the cannonisity of the series or even its inner workings.

Let's go back to what Shiro said himself about Quintessence Corruption. Shiro stated "Zarkon fell to his own evil instincts. The quintessence field didn't create Them, it revealed them." This sentence states that the chemical itself is capable of sensing and seeping into hidden or strong desires. But here's the thing, Zarkon initially didn't desire war. He conquered planets because that's what his race had done for generations, that was until Alfor helped Zarkon to end his conquest and ally with several of his enemies (Alfor, Blaytz, Trygel, Gyrgan) then Zarkon put conquest behind him and worked on being a benevolent ruler who desired peace. Quite a switch but that still leaves the question, what changed? What made him power hungry? What ruined him? Well the answer is actually quite simple and was staring us in the face the whole time.

It was the overwhelming feeling of weakness. Weakness that came with his greatest failure, the inability to support what he loves and cares for. Namely, Honerva, Lotor, his planet, his military, his citizens, and with each day watching the things he loves grow weaker, even himself.

Zarkon watched his life grow into something spectacular and then started watching it's downfall. Even when he put stabilizers into his planet, that only slowed its collapse. He struggled to make his wife pregnant and now he was struggling to keep his son, his only child, healthy in his mother's womb. Speaking of his mother, Honerva slowly and harshly deteriorated right before Zarkon's eyes and he couldn't stop it. Because his planet was dying, he struggled to feed and support his citizens as well as provide nourishment for the soldiers whose job it was to stay healthy and protect all of Galra existence. And thusly Zarkon himself began deteriorating, His mind losing its sense of morality in favor of a stronger sense of survival. He's been weakened. Powerless to stop anything, the quintessence at this point is the only support he has. And thus the only thing he can focus on. If he can harness it, he can fix everything.

See, the quintessence didn't reveal Zarkon's evil nature, he wasn't evil to begin with. The quintessence corrupted his deepest desire. To become strong enough to support all that he cares about. To have power over all that he controls and sees. But no wish comes without a price. Power and quintessence became his biggest concerns. And turned him into what we now know as the Evil Emperor Zarkon.

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But how does this tie in with Lotor? Quite easily actually! You see a lot of what Lotor is, happens to be what Zarkon once was. Lotor had a deep seated love for existence. He indulged himself in other cultures, he respected every living being, he befriended individuals other than Galra, and he believed he could harness quintessence without destruction or disrespect to life.

But to Zarkon, that is Arrogance, Foolishness, it is Weakness beyond compare. Because he thought that way once, and it only brought Daibazaal to ruin and made him incapable of anything. But as we know, that's just Zarkon's perspective through his corrupt eyes. We, the viewers, know Lotor is right in his beliefs But his father is incapable of seeing that because of his fear, having no control over anything, no power over anything. This led Lotor and Zarkon to have an even more broken relationship than they already had, disintegrating to the point Zarkon couldn't stand his own son anymore and sent him away.

But he didn't kill Lotor. Not until 10,000 years later. Because his son was one of the things Zarkon wanted to save. Another reason why Lotor and Zarkon had an abusive relationship has to do with the Quintessence Corruption itself. Because Zarkon desired that power and control over everything, he desired it for his own son as well because if he can't control his own child then the weakness will grow again. The fear Zarkon let die along with his friends and planet will regrow and resurface. But Lotor is not the kind of person who allows himself to be forced, coerced, or manipulated so easily into obedience. Especially when it has to do with his father's sense of Value and Morality. So naturally in Zarkon's mind Lotor has become weak and as he's said before "Weakness is an infection. Better to cut it off then let it spread." We all know what happened next.

And if you need more evidence. Look no further than to Lotor's own corruption itself. Lotor was never good enough for anyone. And honestly saying that statement grossly understates Lotor's actual suffering. But it's still accurate. There are many things the prince wanted in his life. He didn't just want good parents he wanted his parents to be good. But that wasn't going to happen. He didn't just want to accept and be proud of himself he wanted people to accept and be proud of him. But that wasn't going to happen. His home quickly became nothing short of a survival situation and a place where he couldn't belong. So he decided he'd find that place himself and if he couldn't find it, then he'd create it with his own two hands. A place where he is accepted and everyone is proud of him. A place where his accomplishments and intellect matter. A place like the Altean settlement

Initially yes, I believe Lotor made this settlement to save his race. There is no denying he's always had a good heart. But sadly, he's never had a sane mind. Lotor was in Honerva's womb when she and Zarkon became corrupt and it's even stated within that show that when Galra doctors did a health read on Lotor shortly after his birth, he was giving the same quintessence readings as Zarkon and Haggar. In addition, Lotor seems to struggle with letting go of a grudge. Understandable but holding onto grudges creates emotional instability which can cause problems for your mental state. Take it from me if your angry with someone, forget the pain you felt but remember the harm that was delt. Learn it and let it hone you for further down the line in your life. Lotor, didn't do that. He wouldn't forget the rage he felt, even if he could still get revenge on his abusers if he wanted. And with his hidden desires and quintessence his parents seeped into his veins, it was only a matter of time until Lotor finally lost it.

Lotor desired a place to belong and he was going to make it happen no matter what. No matter what or who he had to sacrifice to get it. That's what the Quintessence brought out. His hidden desire for belonging. To be honest, Honerva had her desires herself. But we already understand what those are. Her desire for endless knowledge as well as control over quintessence, life itself. And we know what it made her. We've always been aware of Honerva's mind so there really wasn't a place for her in this post. This statement does exclude her actions for season 8 and that's because who she is then doesn't fit into who she once was or what were discussing.

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Zarkon became what he wanted to be but at what cost? His desire ruined everything. So did Honerva's. It tore apart the universe, it destroyed their son, it slaughtered their friends. Zarkon got the power he wanted and control over his fear, but in turn it ruined everything he built. Immoral sacrifice for absolute solace.

Post made: Feb 18, 2023

Updated: Mar 9, 2023

[ditzydisaster13]

Voltron (VLD) Lion theories.

The Blue lion is adapable and friendly. Supportive as the right leg of voltron. Putting others before it. Her element is water. Guardian of the water. She swims well, and shoots ice. She was the best for lance while he gained some self confidence. But its also why she took in allura and kept her.

The yellow lion is similar. Heavy and kind, courageous and simple. Slow moving, but mighty. He is the guardian of the land. Of stone and rock and things reliable. Left leg of voltron, serves as a crutch, leverage, balance. Which is why hunk stayed

The green lion is of intelligence and energy. Energy in tech. And in life. Quick to make changes and adjust. Also one of the faster lions. Because energy. Pidge is the youngest, still growing into her body and her smarts. She’s learning and becoming better. Temper smoothing out like removing thorns. Piece by piece her puzzle becomes whole again.

The black lion. Guardian of the sky. Constant and yet ever changing. Always something new. Ready to make adjustments and go with whatever. Strong and powerful. It’s why she has wings. Sky. Stars, and planets blinking. She is as large as the universe is vast. Reaching out just as far. Which is why the astral plane works. As for Shiro, keith, and clone shiro? Well, Zarkon. Zarkon corrupted. Which is probably why Black felt that clone shiro was shiro. He was following a similar path. But one was more gradual than the other. Easier to trick her. (Imma assume she didn’t already know..) then for keith? Galra blood is apart of him. Hes getting stronger and better at learning with the changes. Leading himself and others.

-> -> -> as for red? The red lion? King alfor, and Keith? Eventually Lance? Well that started this whole thing!!

King Alfor was kind, and friendly. A little spontaneous. But generous and good natured. With a fun loving side that mixes all of these ideals. He knew how to rule, and how to be a family man. How to be a friend.

Keith, started out very stubborn and hot headed. Lover of family like Alfor, but untrusting of others like the former king was. He had his moments and his grace. His responsibility and respectablities too. Hes growing. Which is why he eventually became the black paladin. Not just shiro. But his worthyness. Hes a fighter. A survivor. A mess. But hes strong.

Lance has qualities of both. Flirty and charming. Generous and a family lover. Fun loving, but knows when to be serious. Hes strong and witted. Intelligent beyond what others think of him. Responsible inna way that shows hes growing. Young, and afraid. Afraid and fearful of it all. But willing to do what is best for the team.

The red lion is tempermental and seeks out paladins that he feels will be able to trust. It take ssome time because he himself has some self doubt, which is something he can bond over and work on with Lance. The two bonded quickly. After what happened with Alfor. He fet he was doing things wrong and wants his paladins to trust him. Thsi means reaching out for a better bond, and faster.

The red lion is guardian of the fire. Fire its hot and dangerous and scary. But it also brings light and warmth, helps make food, and it gives signs of life (fire needs oxygen, so do humans, and then also the fact that fires are used as signals to show that there are people there in like getting lost situations and whatnot) and is important in not only humanities past, but very lonely to be symbolic in many different cultures of many different species.

Oh and this is also why the Red Lion is so fast!! Heat particles move the fastest! Its just a science thing lol.

[plutonify]

I have extremely complicated opinions and thoughts on how the characters and plot of VLD were handled. My thoughts contradict themselves, they're inconsistent, so I’m writing this to put them down and sort them out. This also serves as the start of me introducing my theories/headcanons that were never fully confirmed and my AU which is more like a completely different show than an AU, but whatever.

The Lion Switch

I have a strong belief that the Lion switch was always intended to happen, I’ve noticed multiple seeds that were planted early on in the show that hinted towards the switch. But I also strongly believe that the show runners never intended for it to be permanent, and that’s where it started going wrong.

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The “Before Hints”/Foreshadowing

The color coding of the Paladins outfits.

This one is pretty straightforward and obvious, yet there were some that I haven’t noticed other people point out. There’s the ones that everybody knows, Shiro wears mostly black, Keith wears a red jacket, Lance has blue hints in his shirt, shoes & pants, Pidge wears mostly green, and so does Hunk with yellow. But there are also hints of the paladin's colors changing for the Lion switch. Allura’s dress is almost entirely blue and she becomes the Blue Paladin, Keith’s outfit actually has more black than red on it(but this could also be a nice touch to show his connection to Shiro), I unfortunately couldn’t find any for Lance.

Shiro and Keith’s strong relationship(this one is a bit of a stretch).

Shiro and Keith are practically brothers before the start of the actual show. Shiro practically raised Keith. Because of this Keith took after a lot of Shiro’s traits. His morale of the mission coming first, his determination and dedication to a goal. These are just two of them, but you get the point. Simply put, Keith heavily takes after Shiro, it would only make sense that Keith would start to notice how Shiro leads and unintentionally take after that as well.

That scene where Allura is describing the lions and showing them to the Paladins.

As Allura is describing each Lion, said Lion is shown in front of their intended Paladin. Biggest example and the one that supports my theory is the Red Lion floating in between both Keith and Lance, Keith who is Red’s intended Paladin, and Lance who becomes the Red Paladin in the switch.

How the show depicts the Blue Lion in general and how it connects to Allura.

Compared to the other Lions, the Blue Lion is made the center of attention on multiple occasions in many ways. In the first episode Keith describes how he could sense the Blue Lion but didn’t know what it was, and then the Blue Lion was the very first Lion to be found, it also bonded with Lance extremely quickly compared to the others. It is also responsible for finding all of the paladins, not just their own. Keith also brings up the mysteriousness of the Blue Lion being on Earth, especially knowing how far Earth is from Altea and the other planets, and later learning that the Lions can only travel so far on their own. We also never learn of the Blue Lions traits or what they look for in a Paladin(in the show, we learn it in a book later on, and that’s after the lion switch). With Earth in mind, the cave that the Blue Lion was found in had hieroglyphics everywhere detailing the war and other mysterious events, none of the other lions hiding spots did this. Allura also stands out like the Blue Lion, but amongst the other Paladins. She’s royalty, has a strong connection with the lions despite not being a Paladin, and the only female(before the Pidge reveal and Romelle), she’s also an alien(alongside Coran)

Lance has a lot of parallels to Alfor in the show.

This one is brought up in the show itself, but I feel like it never actually fully explored just how deep the parallels went. There’s the one that the show handles, and it’s how heroic and noble Lance is. When Lance unlocks the Altean Broadsword, which was Alfors, Allura talks about how much of a savior and warrior Alfor was and how Lance is as well. Lance’s nobleness comes from his willingness to sacrifice himself to save people and his bravery to always join the battle, Alfor was noble in that he wasn’t just royalty but he was extremely brave and always saw the best in people. There are others that I’ve seen other people bring up, like Lance bringing the team together just like Alfor did. Alfor built the lions and Voltron, he created the alliance, bringing the og paladins together despite their differences. Lance was the sole connection between all of the paladins, he was friends with Pidge and Hunk, he looked up to Shiro like a hero, and held a grudge with Keith from when they were younger. He was also the first Paladin to be found, being the one Blue chose before she even saw him, the others wouldn’t have made it to the castle if it wasn’t for Lance. They both share similar characteristic traits, they just show differently.

-They are both reckless, Alfor completely succumbs to his excitement in the moment, and Lance, as already mentioned, has sacrificial tendencies.

-Their love for Allura, Alfors is that of a father, and Lance’s that of romantic and friendly intent.

The “After Hints”

Allura’s strong connection to quintessence and the White Lion/Her bond with Blue and being a Paladin.

To put it simply, Allura being the Blue Paladin and fully embracing being the reincarnation of the White Lion at the same time is messy and puts even more stuff on her character than there already is. (I should note that I don’t have a problem with “Mary Sues”, I feel like the phrase is a cheap way of reasoning why a person doesn’t like a female character or any character really. I also only believe that a character can be cluttered depending on what’s being put on them.) It’s important that Allura be a Paladin, and even specifically, the Blue Paladin, for some time so that she could connect with the Paladins, feel the toll of being in the battlefield, and getting to fully experience what a bond with the Lions is really like, it also helped to give her the ability to take a break from her princess status and get to act her age alongside the other Paladins. Why Blue? Well, that’s also simple. The Blue Lion is the middle ground. The Blue Lion is below Black and Red in authority, but is also above Green and Yellow in Authority as well. The Blue Lions element being water symbolizes its flexibility in many things, such as already mentioned authority, combat, social status, etc. Being Blue means that Allura can still be a commanding figure herself while being under command as well. But that’s an arc that can be done very quickly, and quickly is what the show did. Allura learned and experienced these things in a quick but meaningful amount of time. Beyond that point, her being the Blue Paladin is no longer necessary to the plot unlike the others. Her having to leave her place as a Paladin and her bond with the Blue Lion would also, once again, give her the opportunity to be like the other Paladins, as Shiro, Keith, and Lance suffered it with the switch.

Allura was hinted to have a particularly strong sense of quintessence sense the beginning of the show. In the first episode, when she locates the Lions, Coran states that she was “directly linked with the Lions life force, she is the key herself”. Later in the Balmera episode, she uses her own quintessence to communicate and heal the planet of Balmera. Her quintessence isn’t mentioned again until after the Lion switch, which it is shown multiple times. When Lance takes the blow for Allura in the Omega Lock, she once again uses her own quintessence to heal Lance. When they find Shiro alive in the astral plane later on, she moves his quintessence to one of his clone bodies, essentially bringing him back to life. And then even later, after she connects to the White Lion, she finds out that her very being can purify dark quintessence. It is also slightly hinted at throughout the show that a lot of the abilities that Allura unlocked in Blue were due to her extremely high amount of quintessence.

While there are some connections between Allura being the Blue Paladin and the White Lion, most of it happens completely separate. It doesn’t help that after Allura sacrifices herself, the Blue Lion projects herself to Lance instead of the White Lion, the only reason why I can think of that making sense would be the fact that both of them were Blue Paladins at some point.

When the current Paladins fought and talked to the previous Paladins.

I’ve already seen some people mention it, but I haven’t yet, so I’m going to. After they fought with Haggar, the Paladins got stuck in the Astral Plane where they fought the corrupted previous Paladins of their respective Lions. When they managed to get through to them, the previous Paladins spoke to the current ones and gave them advice. That’s all cute and all except for the fact that the speeches that Blaytz and Alfor give to Allura and Lance don’t make sense. What Blaytz tells Allura is perfectly suited for Lance, it isn’t even an argument on how much Lance needed to hear. This hints towards the idea that the Paladins were supposed to return to their original Lions and so Lance would be the current Blue Paladin and get to hear the speech from Blaytz. Alfor’s speech for Lance is very short and kind of insulting, in that it boils both Lance and Allura down to their relationship with each other being the only important thing about them. That’s especially a low blow considering how much of a weight it is that Lance is the Red Paladin, in both negative and positive ways(I talked about them a little in one of the above sections at the top). This gives me heavy vibes of this speech being written last minute with little care for how it actually sounded.

[seldomscilence16]

Voltron in "The Little Mermaid" part one!

Hello all! A little late but heres a short part of a short piece For Julance and Lances Birthday (cause I take forever to do anything and it wasnt ready in May :/). I really loved the Live action, by far the best out of them all, so heavy inspiration pulled from that one- as well as some spoilers with song references and scenes ect so warned- but I also pulled from the cartoon and musical a bit and just mashed a lot of randomness together!

Now I'd like to thank @paracosm299 for reading this and helping out in the brainstorming process! They were a huge help, and as always a humungus support! Love you!

I'd also like to thank @autisticlancemcclain @awhoreintheory and @mothmanavenue ! The first two for answering my asks and moth for beautiful art making me fall in love with a ship used in this fic. And for just being overall amazing, keeping my love for Voltron alive and giving so many people reasons to smile!

Anyway, enjoy part one of this little fic! I will try to get the other parts out soon (im planning for 3 to give me easy goals 🤞).

~~~

The ocean was abuzz with commotion and far too many visitors, all oozing with the need to please the Emperor. Lance had far better things to be doing, though his father would attest, and he found himself swimming farther and farther from the noise. Which wasnt odd of course, Lance could be found on the outskirts of Alteaica more often than not.

"I could've sworn it was around here somewhere..." Coran, an older creature and Lances Best friend, indulged Lances curiosity the most.

He didnt know much of the man, despite how often his rambles and odds and ends left Lances head spinning, but the mystery of him intrigued the merman. He was a bit of an outcast, kept out of the public eye as much as possible like he knew something Lance didnt. And he did, know a lot that is, places and history and things from a time before Lance came to be and further. Allura chided Coran for being a bad influence, but her heart never seemed in it, Lance had seen her far off stare as she listened to a ramble far too much to believe she didnt too know more than she said.

"Oh!" They pass farther than typically allowed, and Lance sees the reason why.

Below lays a wrecked ship, one Lance has yet to explore.

"Come on Coran!"

"You know this reminds me of..."

Lance listens idly to Corans tale, scanning the area carefully as they decend to where the boat rests on the sea floor. He thinks of the storm that would have caused this, thinks of the lives of the humans on board, wonders how many of them made it home. The Emperor would scoff at him, berate him for sharing a caring thought towards the very beings were endanger their waters. But as they drift into the wreck, and his eyes catch on every little detail, he cant help but think they are so much more.

"...And then Alfor sneezes and the whole colony popped, completely vanished, I still wonder what happened to those little quiznakers, they stole my snacks..." For an Octopus, Lance can help but think his face shows perfect contempt for whatever those creatures were.

Its not the first time Coran has spoken of this Alfor, nor of creatures Lance has never heard of, using words he long since has grown accustomed to figure out with the context given. He hears every story, and watches the expressions his friends take, and hurts to know that they too hold pain in their hearts, for something Lance is not allowed to grasp for whatever reason. So instead he distracts, with human curiousities and questions and weaved tales of his own. Coran loves his inquisitive nature, Romelle finds humor where she can and has something that shines in her eyes when he puts something together- he'd put anything together, fix anything, if only to see them all happy- and Allura acts aloof at times, but she loves learning and new things and arguing with Romelle until they both laugh so hard it hurts.

So even for a moment, these human things, bring them together. Things that may or may not be true, that raise so many questions that he hopes and prays to one day find the answers to. He'll collect it all, in the hopes of a future where he can be free to do something with the whirlpool of thoughts inside him. To go, to learn, to enjoy, to explore, to know.

He sticks another object in his bag, Coran dangling from it with one arm as most of the others search the floor,

"I do wonder why the sharks like these ships, never had a clear conversation with one you see, even the evolved ones, their heads seem to be in the foam sometimes, never know what theyre thinking." Coran picks up a piece of ship, examines it, then throws it already looking for something new, his query seemingly random but somehow something Lance too wondered about.

"Well, if I was like my father, I'd say they're trying to figure out how these ships work so they can better take them down." Lance rolls his eyes at this, fingers skimming over a depiction of a human. "But maybe they just like how it looks, its pretty interesting after all."

Lance had met a couple sharks in his day, he found them pretty interesting actually, but he understood how hard it was for them to find food now-a-days. And when youre always moving, they must be starving, so he respected them, gave them a good distance.

Much like with his interest in humans, Lance understood that he couldnt interact with them. For all Sendaks hate, Lance was not stupid enough to believe that he wouldnt be attacked if he did something wrong. With sharks, you could find a few that didnt want to kill you. Humans too, Lance was almost positive there had to be some that wouldn't find him a monster... there had to be.

He startles when he catches movement out of his peripheral, turning to find a large mirror. His expression is tight, and he's quick to smooth it out, he needed to be more careful with what he let his face show.

"Oh, and whats that?" He follows Corans gaze to see, what looked to Lance, a mini trident.

He uses a delicate hand to pick up the object, inspecting it with wide eyes,

"I dont know, but its wonderful. I bet Romelle has an idea." Lance smiles at Coran, glancing around once more for a last sweep, when the mirror catches his attention once again.

This time however, it is not his own reflection he sees.

Rows of teeth, pale skin, and small but focused eyes. The shark is through the side of the boat before Lance can get out any sound of warning. Hes pulling Coran out of the way, the shark dead set on them, destroying the things in its way to try and keep up.

Lance should have knows this wreck would be called for. Should have searched better, before entering what could be- and obviously was- the territory of a predator.

Every turn they take, every time Lance is sure they've lost him, sharp teeth and splintered ship come from behind or the side or in front and they have to make another hard turn, and he trying to hold on to his bag- where Coran has secured himself tightly so as not to effect Lances mobility- but as they finally exit the interior of the wreck, the shark is bursting out behind them and Lance swears he has a grip but then its gone.

He swims backwards, eyes frantically scanning to locate the Octopus, but the Shark has found him first, heading towards the sea floor. Hes comoflauged against the bag, but a trail of blood follows it, giving away his position.

"Coran!" A quick decision, a half formed plan, has him shoving a container of some sort, watching it hit the Shark who thankfully turns his attention to the larger prey. Lance darts into the ship once more, watching the shark come for him, jaw opened wide, closer..

Closer...

Closer!

The mirror shatters, and the shark becomes stuck in the outer frame.

Heart in his throat from where hes pressed against the inner walls across from said mirror, Lance waits only a moment to ensure hes stuck before darting towards the sea floor. The trail of blood has dispersed- and gods Lance hoped it wasnt serious- but his bag has an extra divet in the sand beside it.

"Coran! Are you alright?"

The orange and blues of his friend slowly return, one arm crossed over his body below his eyes as usual, and his seven others still intact. A small scratch on his head has already stopped bleeding, and Lance breathes a sigh of relief, quickly scooping up his friend, absently grabbing his bag, and swimming away from the wreck. It'd be best to be gone before the Shark made his way free.

...

Sendak casts a steady look around the crowded room, today's meeting was an important one, gathering the leaders of the seven seas to discuss important matters once a year. That brat should be here, this was one of their most important times, he should be drifting about the room like a ditz and gathering info for him. One job and the useless boy couldnt even do that. He taps his trident once and waits, eye never stopping its steady search.

"You summoned, your Majesty?" Her voice comes from above, the ghost crab gliding down to land on the rock of his throne.

"Where," he pauses to level her with the full strength of his glare, "is the boy?"

To her credit, she appears unfazed by his glare,

"I reminded him of the meeting this morning-"

"I did not ask of this morning." Sendak cuts in, voice low as he once again eyes the room, "find him."

Shes quiet for a moment, "yes, your majesty."

It wasnt hard to find Lance really, Allura practically had a sixth sense for it. Though all she really had to do was go where you werent supposed to, and you'd happen upon the boy. So of course she finds him talking with Romelle, past the territories border, and far closer to the surface than allowed. Still, with Coran's many tentacles latched around Lances arm and Romelle chattering away about whatever it is shes holding, Alluras heart swells with a fondness she cant- or rather doesnt want to- fight.

"Lonce!" She makes her way up to the rock Romelle stands on, eying the human curiousities for only a moment- things change up there so quickly- before leveling the three with a look. "Do you recall what day it is? That thing I told you this morning?"

The way Lances eyes widen- with fear, so much, too much- has her heart hurting.

"The night of the coral moon! Oh gods! Im late! Sorry Romelle! I gotta go!"

Coran has Lances bag and a grip on the rock in the next moment, just in time to brace for Lance's departure. The three watch him go, faces as glum as their animal selfs can accomplish.

"Hows the plan coming?" Allura asks after the (waves by his departure currents what are they called?) calm.

"They are simply waiting for the right moment, and for Haggar to make her move." Coran responds, one of his many arms laying across his face so another can stroke it awkwardly.

"Lets hope we dont have to wait long." Alluras tone is grave, eyes trained on the trail of a young merman, who has no idea what path was laid before him.

...

Lance was screwed this time for sure.

The Coral Moon gathering was one of the most important tasks Lance had. With so many mers in one place, it was his job to gather any and every bit of information he could, anything that may get his father ahead. It had been the only thing talked about over the past few movements, and the main reason Lance had decided to take a break this morning before the big event... until he lost track of time.

He had succesfully snuck into his room to drape himself in fancy shiny- unnecassary and gaudy, not even tasteful- decorations and such. Anything to make him look like a dumb accessory to the Emporer and be underestimated- though Lance was underestimated even by the man who knew he was more than decor. Sneaking into the event would be a problem though, Lance figured it'd be better to simply act as if he arrived late on purpose, to swim in like a ditz and lazily make his way about the room- anything to delay addressing his Father- and hopefully hear something worth while along the way.

Though worthwhile was relative, and Lance was less of a snitch than his Father trained him to be, but also very good at pretending to be one. The Emperor claimed to see through Lance, and for some things he could- though Lance thinks he simply assumes and who is he to deny the accusations really? But for things like this, Lance had been told by a few that he was an excellent story weaver, and really, thats all gossip was anyway. So long as it pleased Sendak- father, Emperor- it didn't matter.

So long as he could save the lives of a few at the expense of his own safety, it was worth it.

His entrance is met with varying emotions.

By those who follow the Emperor and hang on to his every word, he is greeted with sneers at best, and lascivious leers at worst.

By those who fear him or are simply biding their time, looks of pity or spite. Lance expertly appears non-chalant, like his head is in the sand rather than processing everything fast enough to make his head ache. Most of it was minor gossip, a few idle threats, comments on the food, current events and the likes, but Lance could make that all work.

As he glides closer to the end of the gathering space, he feels a hard stare that he had to stop himself from tensing at. He cant help but drift slower, to delay the inevitable, but he can only stall for so long. He bows to his father and takes his place beside him, swallowing thickly he waits with baited breath.

"Why are you late." The question is barely that, with how much force he puts into the quiet utterance.

"I-"

"Shipwrecks are off limits for a reason."

Lance doesnt know HOW he knows, if it was a guess or if he had more spies than Lance originally thought. For all Lance knew, the shark from this morning could have been in on it. Given, then he'd also know about Coran, and since he never mentions the man, Lance figures its probably a guess. According to Allura, hes pretty predictable like that.

"I was just scouting it out, trying to learn something." Half truths.

"On the most important day of the year, you decide to indulge your human obsession? Are you trying to make me angry?" Lance could tell the crowded room wouldnt keep his father from yelling if they kept this up.

"No Father, I was only-"

"We will talk about this later."

Lance is dismissed as quick as he was addressed to begin with, and the minute the Emperors back is turned to meet with the 'generals' of the other seas, Lance is swimming for his grotto as quick as his tail will take him. If hes in for a punishment anyway, he may as well enjoy his freedom for even a moment.

next>>

[cosmic-gemstone]

Bladedalchemistreplica》》■■

||{{Sob Hold_<Alfor>

Qessyn was a bit startled, but she instinctively wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “It’s okay,” she whispered, “shhhh, you’re okay. Let it out. Let it all out…”

She rubbed his back and rocked him in her arms, doing her best to support him. She didn’t know the details of what he had endured…but she had suspicions.

[minamorsart]

Acxa had a crush on Lotor (same tbh)

That dialogue where Allura says aloud "stay calm" and Lotor : "I am calm" , Allura : "I was talking to myself" STAR WARS : THE FORCE AWAKENS REFERENCE!!!!!!! YEAH BOIIII !

I strongly believe Count Do Tarn is responsible for planting both Altean and Galran bombs ! Especially from the previous chapter when he told Allura "Hope it doesn't bore you to DEATH"

If Alfor is ready for war , how's fire power looking on Lotor's side 😏

(That reference to DOtu is cool tho)

And KOVA IS THE CUTEST ALIEN CAT EVER EVER 😭🥺💫✨💞

Also there's hand holding , smiling between our beautiful princess and our handsome emperor , I wonder what more awesomeness and beauty do you have in store for us 😎😍👌🤠🤗🙌❤️❤️❤️❤️

Am I spilling the tea with this ask 👀☕

AHHH YOU'VE JUST MADE MY DAY THANK YOU SO MUCHHHH 🤧🤧😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏

Yeeess I'm so glad you caught the Star Wars reference! At first I was worried it might be ooc for Allura, but then I remembered she does the exact same thing in S3E3 "The Hunted"! When she's hiding from Lotor in fact 😏 heh

It is a huge compliment and relief that the mystery details in this story are noticeable, whew! I can neither confirm nor deny Do-Tarn's actions yet 👀 And I'm so happy that you love Kova too! I love him and the generals, and they are going to play a big role in chapter 7! I can't wait to share it with you!! 🥰

Thank you again for your kind words and support, it really means a lot!!!! 🥺🥺💖💖💖💖💖

^^^^ in which Allura is all of us lol

[artsyjesseblue]

Randomly reading tumblr articles, I stumbled upon a link to an old interview with Voltron’s EPs. This part of the interview stood out to me, as I’ve been supporting the same interpretation of why Zarkon and Honerva became corrupt.

Interviewer: Do you think that, had Zarkon not been infected by the poisoned Quintessence, he may have remained “good?” Or do you think his obsession with Quintessence was already too great and it would’ve only been a matter of time before he became truly evil?

Dos Santos: I personally think that he had very ideological differences with the way Alfor saw things, even without the Quintessence coming into play. I think they came from very opposite ends of societal places.

Montgomery: Different cultures.

Dos Santos: But, they found common ground, and they worked together, so I think there’s a good chance that they could’ve worked together. Maybe there would’ve been ups and downs.

Montgomery: They didn’t see eye to eye, but nothing quite on the level that this has taken had he not encountered that Quintessence. Had they never discovered Voltron, even if they had resorted to war, it would’ve been a much smaller fallout. Something bad would’ve happened in their galaxy, but he wouldn’t have this world denomination that he’s been going on because of his obsession.

Dos Santos: I think Quintessence, if anything, it sort of grabs on to the worst of us and accentuates those elements. Like anything, it corrupts.

Montgomery: Anything at all, even, whether it’s good or evil. Medicine in large doses can kill you. So that’s really what Quintessence is. It’s not innately good or innately bad. It’s a power source, and if you misuse it, it can be very disastrous.

Dos Santos: I think that was the point also that Alfor was trying to get across. He was saying, “Guys, look, you’ve got to covet this stuff extremely cautiously,” in mind that there’s a balance with all of it.

Their commentaries go hand in hand with something Shiro’s clone said in S6: “Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts. The quintessence field didn’t create them, it revealed them.”

I’ve written two metas about Zarkon and Honerva’s madness arcs in detail, starting exactly from this premise - the blame is not shifted solely on quintessence, but on their own initial flaws.

The way I like to see it is like this: imagine a slider on a scale from white to black. In between there are lots of grays, which we all have, to a darker or lighter degree. Quintessence will take that slider and radically shift it in one or the other direction, depending what gray zone you’re in. Allura would be the positive example: she tipped the scale towards the bright side - when saving all realities, she transformed the quintessence "from a destructive force to a life-giving force."

Neither Honerva nor Zarkon were devoid of their past selves, even after becoming so vile. Their old selves were still there, their consciousnesses buried deep inside, and my metas explore their gradual transitions towards loss/recovery of their own personas, also taking into account the role of the dark entity within their journeys.

Lance says this nicely at the end of the show: “And had Princess Allura not seen that there was still good left in Honerva, we most likely would not be sitting here today. She grew to understand that there is good in everyone.”

Kid: “Even Emperor Zarkon?”

Lance: “Yes, even Emperor Zarkon.”

[princessallura052]

Black Paladin Keith (detailed analysis)

Okay, so I did promise you guys an analysis. I did not expect to get this done so quickly but this moron who wanted validation on the mini-meta did made me angry enough to put this out there because *shrilly Angelica from Rugrats voice* Omg Keith and Black were such dicks to Shiro, aren’t they just horrible beings? Yeah, you guys just saw my petty side which I normally only show to close friends but to the sane VLD fans out there, I feel sorry for us having a fandom like this, we deserve better. So whether you agree with all this analysis or not, don’t be a toxic jerk. You can hate Keith all you want - I’m not a huge fan of Lance and don’t support LGBT stuff (unless canon and there are some exceptions too) but I’m not going to turn into Angelica from Rugrats on anyone who disagrees with me. 

So, the first screenshot is from Season 2 episode 1. Shiro is being attacked by giant lizards and Red is out of commission. Keith is not the Black Lion’s Paladin but the way he respects her is shown in the two screenshots below.

The way Keith speaks to Black despite his tone is so respectful. He’s not sure if Black will accept him because at this point, she’s not his lion but he talks to her and he waits for her. Also, some people may not consider this a huge deal but this is season 2 Keith. The Keith who literally blows up at everything - not calling him out, he is my favourite but unlike certain character fangirls, I won’t deny he has flaws because it makes him even more awesome.

Now, we’re going to jump onto s3. I know what some people are going to think. Keith was impatient with Black when he became her Paladin at first but like, give the kid a break. He’s just lost Shiro and been forced into a position he never asked for. Not to mention, Black isn’t as fast as Red is and that takes some getting used to.

So I’m going to go onto another episode after clone Shiro returns because this to me, highlights how quickly they bonded. Angelica from Rugrats also mentioned that Black Lion knew the clone wasn’t the real Shiro because she was in communication with the real Shiro. She knew it was not the real Shiro but saying she was in communication with him, I don’t know were we really ever given proof that lions retaining the essence of their Paladin was a voluntary thing?

Not to mention, how do we know Haggar didn’t give clone Shiro some ability to trick Black? Alfor made the lions from Altean alchemy but Haggar is also Altean. However, those are theories for another time. I would like to bring your thoughts to this conversation in season 3 episode 6 of Tailing the Comet.

Okay, so the reason I am giving these screenshots one by one is so I can explain myself a bit better. I may have to split this meta into a few parts too. Okay, so basically in this scene, clone Shiro who we believe to be Shiro at this time is trying to remember what happened. Keith tells him the last thing that happened was he had unlocked Black’s ability to teleport and the first thing he thinks is that Black was trying to protect Shiro. It’s the first suggestion he offers. This is the lion he didn’t even want to bond with because he was replacing Shiro but it took what? 4 episodes and he’s bonded with her and thinks so positively of her. And the scene isn’t over yet but I will mention a potential trigger warning here that there is victim blaming and victim shaming in the continuation of this scene. So please take care of yourself and do not hurt yourself to read this meta if you are triggered by that.

Clone Shiro in this scene tries to put all the blame onto the Black Lion. Angelica back there may argue that Keith was being a dick here though because this fandom sadly is toxic enough to be okay with victim blaming if Shiro is the one doing the victim blaming, clone or not. Sorry guys! I don’t hate Shiro, he’s actually one of my favourite characters believe it or not. But I hate what fans have turned such a wonderful character into and you can tell I’m still mad at this moron.

Ok, but look Keith is defending her. Keith is defending his lion from who he thinks is his brother - still think they’re not the perfect partners? Not to worry, I have one more evidence and this time, it’s not from Keith’s end either. It’s from the Black Lion’s because it’s at but the good news? I won’t have to do a second part because I should be able to fit this all into one meta. Ok, so this next scene is still from Tailing the Comet. 

Keith did not like the the slight competition between himself and Shiro. It put him in a position of choosing between Shiro and Black and although he ultimately chooses Shiro, it is a mistake and he acknowledges this in a later episode. But you saw earlier that Keith defended Black but the relationship is not one-sided. Black takes a stand for him too in that ‘no, I want Keith’ to the point that Keith basically has to remove himself completely, not just stepping aside for a singular battle because he doesn’t want conflict with Shiro and at this stage, he’s weak and honestly, a little codependent. It makes sense given his childhood that he would be but I never realised he was before. 

Now, we could argue that Keith and Red had a very mutual relationship too. I do not deny this - Keith has a beautiful relationship with both his lions as Keith is a character that loves very deeply. Red responded to that by being loudly protective while Black is more a quiet protective where you will not see her coming. I think I will do a two-parter to this. S6-8 do not have too much for them so it’ll be a shorter part than this but there are moments showing their bond.

I have given my screenshots as evidence for you but Keith and Black are healers for each other. Black was abused by Zarkon and Shiro was abused by Haggar, so the two had this in common but that was the only thing they had in common. Keith, once he gains confidence in himself is exactly like the kind of leader Black is. He’s emotional but he also thinks. I know a lot of Shiro fans are like: are you calling Shiro a bad leader? No, I’m just saying Keith is a better leader of Voltron. Shiro is a great leader - he helped them build alliances but Keith being the leader of Voltron and Shiro being the leader of the Atlas was a very smart choice. When Shiro was the leader of Voltron, he always was stressed and wanted to be the protector, making some bad decisions because he took much onto himself. There are a few examples of this too such as him taking all of Voltron to save Allura - they could have come with a better plan. Or continuing to shoot at cube monster despite Pidge trying to warn him and it nearly getting them all killed for not listening to her. Pidge is always right, Shiro. Have you learnt nothing? But compare this to how Shiro is when being the commander of the Atlas. He’s still a leader and he’s the one who gives orders but he doesn’t have a responsibility to protect them because they’re younger. 

But just to wrap by what I mean by Keith thinks. As most of you know I’m a Kallura fan, so Keith saying they shouldn’t go to save Allura in s1 did break the heart of this Kallura fan. But Keith had no idea how to people then - if he did, he was basically saying let’s not form Voltron and go save her head-on but he worded that very poorly.

This is just one example, of course from early on. Has he made hot-headed decisions as the leader of Voltron? Of course, he’s a flawed character but he grows to be the kind of leader Black is. Quiet and commanding but never overtaking anyone else. I think I’m going to ask you guys - do you want meta of Keith and Black from s6-8 or is this enough to make you think? 

Also, if you are toxic or a jerk, I will not reply to your comment. You are entitled to your opinion - I firmly believe you can express that opinion in a civil and humane manner. If you can’t, I will block you.

[bladedalchemistreplica]

Hey, so...this probably isn't for here but what WOULD be the reality where alfor isn't with melendor? Do they have good terms? How exists? Also is alliura there or she get snapped?

It's a sneak peek I suppose. But that's what the Royalblade au is for.[@cyberghost-scout for the help with that name]An au where everyone is present, but things are adjusted and mostly focused on thace and alfor.

《《Main rundown/points for relations of melenor/alfor

In most realities, it was an arranged marriage after alfor was found to be of sarced blood. He also was one of the few to be considered a well enough candidate for marriage to the princess of Altean (Melenor)

During his young adult years the galra and alteans had built a bridge between one another, though it was more like a worn and torn bridge on the verge of snapping.

He and Melenor did we'd and eventually have a child, though no one exactly knew who the father was since when she was born, she held a resemblance to one of Melenors servants. However, that was a hush hush and Alfor loved her the same.

He tried to make it work even before they wedded, but Melenor made it clear she held no if any feeling towards him as he did for her. Eventually, his love was smothered out.

Coran is still his right-hand [best friend] man. Even if he serves under Melenors family. Coran is extremely supportive of the upcoming young king, they also had met a little before he was found to be viable candidate.

Melenor has a certain distaste for the falra, raised in the uppers of society, and raised with a silver spoon. Though she hides most of this to keep the populist under the false face of peace towards the supposed bloodlusted society.

Zarkon has better terms and building a relation with the alteans with Alfor being the major Diplomatic of the two.

Alfor does steal the limelight from melenor. Which just strengthens her resentment of him. But divorces are very much seen as shameful and a bad omen...so no easy way out. [[Her eye candy of a husband just stole it like nothing]]

Thace pops in [[skipping around but keeping major events ✨️

Zarkon vists with one of his top commanders, Kolivan, and a few of the galra's soldiers. One of which is a lieutenant, Thace, who immediately catches Alfor's attention.

Alfor doesn't use his power for leverage. He just approaches and speaks with Thace as with any other soldier. Though over time, it becomes apparent, he favors this one over the rest.

Thace begins to fall for the king as time passes. Resulting in a few private meetings of the two.

Later on, melenor discovers this little affair from one of the castles servants. Resulting in a pivate outlashing of her. This is where alfor points out her affair, which resulted in their daughter. ((Who was mostly raised by the said servant and forcing a rift between him and her as time grew)

《《Divorced melenor or eloping

Alfor just abandons the wedding to be with Thace, which results in a many rescue or hunt for the betrayal.

Melenor has a public freakout and alfor is seen as the villain, ruining any chance of him speaking his part. He flees with Thaces and a few of his forces aid before he can be properly punished for the affair.

Alfor tosses aside the stigma of divorce and goes through with it.

《《Daughter of purple or white

Allura is born to Melenor and Alfor. She is closest to her father, and when things begin to go down, she begins to seek out why. Resulting in a huge rift between her mother. Later on, she elopes to marry the prince of the galra Empire after having numerous encounters during diplomatic meetings.

Thace and Alfor wed and eventually have Allura. The princess of the second known Galra, Altean, marriage.

She is either the half-sister or sister of the altean princess, Faye, in most cases they have a rough or nonexistent relationship due to their parents cracking marriage.

《《Just us

Alfor is a noble who meets Thace during an annual meeting of the galra emperor, Zarkon, which is to continue a faltering alliance.

Thace and Alfor meet up when able to and eventually alfor disguises himself to visit Thace. Who is very much encouraging Alfor to visit more and more. As well helping him come to galra customs.

When they are found, ou4 Alfor is seen as a traitor and almost imprisoned for his reckless' behavior of trusting a Galra.

Thace helps Alfor escape and as well convince one of their top members he could be of great help in fixing and running the diplomatics between the two planets.

After some time and close calls, Thace takes alfor as his mate. Resulting in some tensions growing between both sides. Seeing how no one, besides Zarkon and Honerva, had done such before. And seeing how that was going..

Alfor and Thace have a daughter who they call, Allura, both of whom love her deeply.

Just notes here and there. A lot I didn't put because... lots of stuff and details. So... it may be incomplete, but I'll probably post more in the future.

[pinkiepiepride]

|||…||The ground was odd, something was very odd with this area of land. Something was just…

………………………

||~~~~~~~~~~~~~||

Fluttershy was just making her rounds in the base, Mrs.Holly and Alfor were out for the time, so it was her, KouRyuu, and Sentinel Prime. She was actually wrapping up her little intervention set up. Seeing how she’d heard some of sentinels…words, She could put them as kindly as possible, she thought it would do go to sit him down with KouRyuu and talk about it. She just wished she had her animal friends for the extra support.

KouRyuu reminded her of her friends, mostly one who was pink and energetic, but toned down, by a lot. Still, oh she missed her friends—-

**Pomph!** 🎊

> A large amount of confetti came from out of nowhere, landing ontop of Fluttershy. A cheerful giggle erupted throughout the base.

"Ehehe~☆"

A Perfectly Pink Pony seemingly appeared from out of nowhere, a cheerful demeanor with a lot of personality. It was none other than The pink Party pony herself, Pinkie pie!

"Hellooo!!!"

[bicsbec]

Stay a Little Longer pt. 8

Maybe it was the courage left from the nunvill or his fuel to spite Emi or Alfor or whoever he was most furious at currently, but a few vargas later Coran found himself in Daibazaal, standing in front of what he knew to be Kolivan’s apartment. His legs were stiff from the travel over and he was leaning on the door for support. He distantly thought that this wasn’t his brightest idea.

He raised a fist and knocked.

He heard the muffled scrape of a chair and heavy steps approaching. His stomach did a somersault, threating to spill what little contents it still had. Nervousness gripped him, he had no idea what he would say.

The door opened.

It was Kolivan, of course. But it took Coran a tick to recognize him. He looked disheveled, more than in the mornings. Like he hadn’t had a reason to put himself together in quite a few quintants. His braid was loose, his shirt was stained; his pants were undone, like it was easier to keep them that way.

He stood frozen, mouth half opened, like maybe he was about to tell him to piss off. He was switching gears, slower than usual.

“Coran,” he managed, his voice rough with disuse.

“Kolivan.”

He cleared his throat. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, that’s certainly an interesting question—”

Kolivan raised a hand. “Rephrasing: why are you here?”

Kolivan didn’t seem exasperated or angry, but there was something prickly in his tone. Instead of backing down and apologizing, like every instinct was telling him to do, Coran took a step forward. Took a breath.

“I’m here to talk. I want to talk.”

“Has it occurred to you that maybe I don’t?”

“No, honestly.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Coran could almost see the gears turning in Kolivan’s head. Kolivan let out a breath and stepped aside.

Coran took in the small room, one he suspected was usually in strict order. To his left was the kitchen/eating area/office, from what the surfaces told him. Cupboards and a stove, and a counter for eating and working. To his right was the bed and closet, unmade and open, respectively. He assumed the back door was the bathroom, but it was closed.

“Sit wherever,” Kolivan gestured vaguely, stepping over a pile of documents and kicking some clothes under the bed.

“Thank you,” Coran said, sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed. Kolivan sat across from him, in the only dining chair in the room. The room was so close together that their knees were only a foot apart. Coran briefly wondered how such a big man could live in such close quarters; then he thought that Kolivan was barely in his apartment, only using it when he needed it.

They stayed in silence for a while, just taking each other in. Somehow, Coran had seen this going smoother in his head.

“Well?” Kolivan asked well into their silence, raising an eyebrow. “You said you wanted to talk.”

“Right, I do,” Coran said, finding his voice. “I just…don’t know where to start.”

Kolivan’s face softened, his ears flattening for a moment. “Maybe I can help with that. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.”

“You’re putting your position in the Coalition at risk,” Kolivan’s voice was soft yet somehow stern.

“I know.”

“Your being here won’t help your case.”

“I know.”

Kolivan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, looking at his feet. It didn’t seem he had anything else to say.

“What about you?” Coran asked, his thoughts snagged on Kolivan’s phrasing.

“What about me?”

“Your position, your case. What about them?”

“What does it matter?”

“They’re as important as mine.”

Kolivan looked up, the closest he’d been to Coran since the incident. He smiled, shaking his head and sitting up straight.

“You have always been the better politician. And, before you say anything, I am far more replaceable than you. People are lining up for my seat. You, on the other hand, are irreplaceable.”

“Your insight is invaluable, Kolivan. Even if you don’t see it,” Coran said, resisting the urge to scooch closer.

“Then I suppose that just another reason why you should go home.”

“Is that what you want?”

“What I want… Coran, you know it’s not. I want what’s best for you, even if it doesn’t include me. That’s what I want.”

He’d known this was where Kolivan’s heart had laid from the beginning. As infuriating as his inaction had been, his intentions had always been to look out for Coran. Extracting himself from the picture would be a small consequence for Coran’s overall wellbeing.

“That’s a good thing, then, I think. I suspect you might be what’s best for me. I don’t think I could handle sacrificing so much for a job. Even this job. I’ve done this before and I suffered for it, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I’m not doing it again.”

Kolivan’s shoulders relaxed, the set of his brow eased. It was like Coran’s words made him lighter.

“What about the investigation?”

“I was going to file in a report eventually,” Coran shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure…”

“Make sure what?” Kolivan asked, leaning forward on his elbows again.

“Make sure what we had was a working relationship, not just attraction,”

“And what do you think?” Kolivan’s lips quirked, like he was trying not to smile.

“I think I would’ve filed a report tomorrow, if Emi hadn’t gotten ahead of us,” Coran said, leaning forward as much as he dared.

Kolivan grinned in earnest and brought his forehead to Coran’s.

“I owe you an apology, then,” Kolivan said, taking Coran’s face in his hands. “I thought I was doing what was best. I had no idea how wrong I was.”

“Sometimes you have to lead with your heart, not your head,” Coran said, finally smiling.

“I’ll make note of that. I promise, love.” The nickname melted Coran’s heart, making him surge forward and kiss Kolivan.

His heart was full and warm, and he realized he had no idea that lips could be something he’d miss. Kolivan leaned forward, his lips eager and lingering. Coran wanted to pull him closer and keep him there. He wanted his only problems to be figuring out how to fit perfectly against Kolivan’s figure and how to sleep through Kolivan’s rumbling snores. He wanted to wake up with Kolivan’s heat beside him, he wanted… He wanted small, wonderful moments for however long it made sense, for however long he could have them. His heart was set on Kolivan. As perplexing as that might’ve been at some point, it was the only thing that made sense in his head now.

That night, he stayed in Daibazaal. And he hoped he could stay beside Kolivan for as long as he could.

* * *

There was a horrible pinging noise coming from somewhere in the room. Coran burrowed further into the bedsheets, grumbling as he pressed a pillow over his head. Weight shifted on the mattress and there was a dull thud and a curse. The pinging continued.

Coran sat up, disoriented and sour. He could make out Kolivan’s figure picking something up from the floor.

“Kolivan!” Coran hissed. “Turn that off.”

“It’s your filer,” Kolivan hissed back. “Here.”

Kolivan tossed the screen over to Coran, which he didn’t even attempt to catch. I landed on his lap, still pinging away. The caller ID read Number Five. Coran ran a hand over his face before answering, wiping away his frown. The screen changed to reveal the caller’s face.

“Pidge!” he greeted, trying not to cringe at the idea of his likely disheveled state.

“Hey, Coran,” Pidge said with a smile. They looked a little distracted, like there was a lot going on around them. “Just wanted to let you know that Shiro will be arriving first, I have a couple of things I need to wrap up with Matt over here.”

“Okay?” Coran said, willing his brain to wake up faster. What was she talking about? Kolivan crawled back into bed, his weight tipping Coran to the side when he slumped down on his side.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Uh, yes. I’m trying to gather my thoughts.”

“Coran, what day is it?”

“Hm, I…I’m not sure.”

“It’s the 14th, Coran,” Kolivan mumbled.

“Is someone with you?” Pidge asked, angling her head, as if that would help get her a better view.

“The 14th? Wait, the 14th?! Pidge, what time is it?”

“In Altea? Almost noon, I think. Coran, how are you not up yet?”

Coran dropped the screen on the bed, bouncing over Kolivan. “I gotta go, Pidge! Talk soon! Darling, end the call, please.”

Coran was yanking his clothes from where he’d hung them the night before, only hearing, “Wait, is that Koli—” before slamming the bathroom door closed and rushing through his routine. He had finally managed to set his hair into place when Kolivan walked into the bathroom.

“Expect a plausibly uncomfortable conversation with the short Holt when they get here,” was Kolivan’s way of greeting as he moved to brush his teeth.

“Noted,” Coran said, stepping away from the sink, but still playing with his hair.

“You look composed, love,” Kolivan said through his toothbrushing. “You should hurry out.”

“Yes, I know; you’re right.” Coran straightened his suit, taking one last look in the mirror and kissing Kolivan’s cheek on his way out.

“I’ll catch up with you later today,” Kolivan called.

“Yes, thank you, darling! Take your time!” Coran called back before exiting the room. He’d slept through half of the day, he needed to get ahead of it however he could. He’d kick himself later for forgetting about Allura’s day.

“Alright, get a hold of yourself, old boy,” he said to himself, tapping his forehead. “First things first, who’s already here.”

He strode over to the map room, looking up the biometrics within the castle. He saw that the wormhole was open, but no shuttle had come through yet. It was probably for Shiro. Keith and Lance were within castle grounds, near Melenor’s garden. There was no sign of Hunk, Romelle, or Pidge yet.

“Alright, I’ll just fetch the boys, round up a few more hands, and everything should be fine,” Coran said, combing his mustache and shaking out his hands.

He wasn’t expecting the odd expression the boys had when he found them. Keith seemed frustrated and worried, but Lance had a look of glee, very much like the one he wore when he was about to tease someone. They both seemed to be directed at him.

“Boys! It’s been a while,” Coran said, trying to ignore the looks on their faces.

“Hey, Coran,” Keith’s smile was weak, but he still hugged Coran like he always did: strong and reassuring. When he pulled away his look of concern was back. “Mom told me you and Kolivan got suspended. What’s that about?”

“Oh,” Coran hadn’t expected to deal with the topic so soon. Much less without Kolivan present.

“You two, of all people, getting suspended? You used to yell at me for kicking up my feet on the table. Not to mention how no-funny-business Kolivan is,” Lance said, grinning like he’d won the lottery. “What on Earth did you do?”

“He’s been all too excited about this,” Keith said, shaking his head and elbowing Lance.

“Grandpas One and Two got in trouble, mi vida,” Lance said defensively. “And you expect me to be normal about it? Hell no.”

Coran chuckled. “Grandpa? No need to throw my age at my face like that, Lance. Unless you two have any children for us to call grandkids.”

“W-wha—uh, um,” Lance fumbled. Keith started laughing.

“Don’t do that to him, Coran,” Keith chuckled, throwing an arm around Lance’s shoulders. “His mother’s already bad enough.”

“Ay, viejita,” Lance mumbled, shaking his head. “So, how ‘bout it, Coran? What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, realistically,” Coran said, crossing his arms. Keith raised an eyebrow at that. Coran huffed. “I—we were just…involved.”

“Involved? In what?” Keith asked. Lance snorted.

“Each other, I think,” Lance said with a smirk.

“Involved romantically,” Coran amended, ignoring how warm his face felt. “So crass.”

“Wait, with Kolivan?” Keith asked. Lance patted his cheek in mock consolation.

“Ay, mi amor. Older people have needs, too.”

“Lance!” Keith snapped and Coran scolded. But Lance was laughing.

“Good on you for getting some, Coran,” Lance said patting his shoulder and winking. “And getting a nice vacation out of it.”

It was Coran’s turn to sputter. “Th-that’s a gross misrepresentation of what happened, Lance. Now,” Coran straightened his suit, trying to compose himself, “you boys are going to help me set up.”

“And why’s that?” Lance asked, almost like he knew the answer.

“I overslept,” Coran answered indignantly.

“Hell, yeah you did,” Lance clapped a hand on Coran’s back. “C’mon, Keith.”

“I’m so sorry about him,” Keith said as they walked back to the castle.

Coran sighed but managed a smile. “Oddly enough, I had missed Lance’s relentless teasing. I’m just not used to being the focus.”

“He’ll drop it soon enough,” Keith said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, mi vida,” Lance sing songed.

Dinner ran smoothly, Shiro, Lance, Keith, and Coran finishing the overall set up just as the others arrived. It was beyond wonderful to see them all in the same place again. They’d been through so much, yet they still managed to stick together, even if it was for short periods of time every deca-phoeb. They laughed and reminisced, joked and visited old spots in the castle. They stayed as late as they could, savoring every tick of each other’s presence.

They’d brought out the drinks—and Shiro’s water—pouring one after the other telling stories and laughing up a riot, when Kolivan approached their table outside. Coran remembered he had promised to catch up with him, but it was only now that he saw him.

“Hey, where’ve you been?” Coran asked him, making everyone turn toward the new person.

“I thought I’d give you some time. This day has always been for you and your family.”

“You’re family,” Keith blurted, sitting up straighter in his chair. Kolivan smiled at that.

“Be that as it may, this was Allura’s family. I have no delusions about being a part of it,” Kolivan said.

“Did Kolivan just smile?” Hunk whispered loudly to Pidge. They just waved him off, watching between him and Coran as carefully as they could. They were trying to catch something.

Coran give Pidge an easy catch. “You can sit down, love. Have a drink. You’re more than welcome.”

“More than welcome!” Lance echoed with a little too much enthusiasm. Coran’s eyes wandered toward Pidge, whose eyes were as wide as he’d ever seen them.

“Thank you,” Kolivan said, taking the seat next to Coran.

“Since when?” Pidge asked, seemingly out of nowhere to the rest of the table.

“Three phoebs,” Coran said, taking a sip from his drink. “’S why we’re suspended.”

“Three phoebs,” Lance repeated. “And we didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?” Hunk asked, looking disoriented as he glanced around the table. Shiro seemed to be quietly enjoying how the events were unfolding.

“Coran and Kolivan are a thing,” Lance supplied. “An item, if you will.”

Kolivan raised an eyebrow at the phrase but didn’t interject. Coran’s head was too fuzzy to mind much of whatever came out of Lance’s mouth. The rest of the evening was spent half answering questions, half scolding Lance for prying too much into the details of their relationship. Coran was happy to finally be able to tell his family about the man that brought him joy, the man that made him realize he needed to start living again.

* * *

The breeze brought over the smell of juniberries, soft and sweet. They were supposed to meet at their tree, the oldest one in the field. Kolivan seemed to be running late.

Today’s meeting had been as exhausting as all the others, sitting before the board members, enduring invasive questions, and undergoing exhaustive interrogation regarding motives for passing treaties or approving funds for the last three phoebs.

Coran sat down, leaning his head against the trunk of the tree, shaking his head. The questions were draining, leaving him irked and jaded.

“You look tired,” a voice came, making him jump. It was Kolivan. “Sorry.”

Coran waved him off. “You’re fine. Sit.”

“How was the meeting?”

“Terrible. I wish you could be in there as well,” Coran said, leaning on Kolivan’s shoulder. Kolivan sighed; Coran felt him nod against his head.

“These quintants have been nice, though,” Kolivan said. “Not having to worry about saying the wrong thing, rubbing someone the wrong way. A nice respite.”

“They have,” Coran smiled. He straightened out his leg and dug around his pocket. “I’ve been meaning to show you something.”

Coran held out the little chest. He pulled away from Kolivan to see his face. Kolivan wore an amused smile, like he’d almost forgotten about the endearing little box.

“Is this what you wanted to show me that day?”

Coran nodded. “Do you want to open it?”

Kolivan took it into his hand, swiping the lever with a single finger. The lever opened smoothly. “Do you know what’s inside?”

“I’ve no idea, love. I wanted to open it with you.”

“A sweet sentiment,” Kolivan kissed his cheek. With that, Kolivan lifted the small lid. The chest had a cushioned interior, the fabric dull with age. Pressed against the cushion was what Coran could only think to describe as a locket. With all his vast knowledge in cultures and trinkets alien to him, Coran had no idea what this was.

Kolivan scooped it out gently, holding it to the evening light. He looked like he couldn’t quite believe his eyes.

“You know this.”

“I thought they were gone,” Kolivan said, turning the piece over in his hand. “They’re traditional Galran smithery, goldsmithery to be precise. Before we were—before Zarkon. They’re called Blood Houses. My mother used to make them.”

“What was it for?”

“They’d be engraved with names, for families or newlyweds. They held generations of names within its doors,” he said, opening up the locket. It was blank, save for a small line script that followed the edge of the left side. It was stylized type, Coran’s eyes not being able to discern much.

“What does it say?”

“What they should all say: Victory and Death. Victory in having lived. Death in our graces. It was a reminder for all families, to remember the things that truly mattered—family and those you love. It’s an ancient philosophy, clearly.”

“It’s blank,” Coran said, running a finger over the surface.

“Wonderful observation, darling.”

Coran snorted at the phrase.

“It must’ve been stored away for some newlyweds, kept in this little chest. Or it could’ve been one of the last ones made,” Kolivan mused. “They were fairly popular back home. Ma had made one for us, it was smaller than this. Just for us two. It’s…a shame I don’t have it with me, now that I think about it.”

“Well, if I may be so bold,” Coran said, gently taking the Blood House from Kolivan, “I think I know what we can do with this one.”

Kolivan looked over at him, eyes bright and smiling. He leaned over and captured Coran’s lips with his own, a sweet kiss that made Coran’s stomach warm.

“I think so, too,” Kolivan said, pressing his forehead against Coran’s.

They watched the sun go down for the remainder of their evening. Coran had been right in his original assessment—sunsets were enchanting with Kolivan. It was like he’d been made to enhance the gentle things in life, the soft motions of the universe. It was possible that Kolivan didn’t remember gentleness, but he knew it, he was it.

Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe had loved many things throughout his life. He had loved singing, he had loved being of service to his kingdom, he had loved Allura and her father. He’d thought he’d led a satisfying life, content in what little indulgences he’d allowed himself. He’d thought his heart was full, with no space to love anew. Much less would he have thought to love a Galra. But Kolivan had enraptured his heart, with small smiles and endearing questions.

Coran had loved many things, continued to love a few, even. But Kolivan was something he thought unfathomable in his old age—new love, just as brilliant and charming as his first, neither overshadowing the other. Kolivan was the happiness Coran never expected to find along the way and he could never have been more grateful for eventualities.

pt. 1 | < pt. 7